My first tour bus trip today! Sam and I woke up early to catch a bus to Brighton and then to meet the coach that would drive us to Bath. On the way, we ran into Kevin and Vannie so yay, travel friends!
As we waited for the coach, Kevin and I visited a cute Italian cafe to grab some breakfast. Yes, I cheated and bought a panini but it was oh so goood and there was nothing carb-free in the cafe. :( We also ran into our driver who was purchasing a coffee for the trip. He jokingly asked us, "So what part of China are you two from?" I know diversity isn't the most common occurrence in England so I'd been prepared for these kind of jokes even before I left. Surprisingly, he told us that his wife is from China, showed us some pictures, and then explained that he actually studied linguistics in college and was fascinated by our "strong American accents." Hah.
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| Gorg castle in the background. |
The coach took four hours to get to Bath so I mostly napped or stared at the beautiful English countryside... and at the cows, don't forget the cute British cows that are everyyywhere. I hadn't known much about Bath besides what I read in stories, such as how it's always rainy and such. We finally arrived at the beautiful ancient city of Bath a little after noon! It poured heavily throughout the coach ride but when we got there it was reduced to light sprinkles so boy were we lucky. :)
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| Loving the ancient architecture in Bath! And hello Kevin photobombing in the background. :) |
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| Beautiful church. |
At first, Sam and I followed the tour guide to check out the baths of Bath. Apparently this was one of the first locations where the ancient Romans had their bathhouses - it's the only place in England where you can get hot water from underground. You can even pay to take a bath there.
Sightseeing was difficult because our tour guide moved fast, talked softly, and our large group was definitely not cohesive. Sam and I found out that there was Jane Austen center nearby so... we broke off from the group and decided to go find it ourselves! :) and my... if you've known me for even a short while, you'll know that I am an ardent Jane Austen fan. I've read all her novels, and I reread Pride and Prejudice every year. I own the DVD of the Keira Knightley / Matthew Macfayden version that gets replayed in the background whenever I am having a good or bad day. So of course, when we finally arrived, we FREAKED. OUT.
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| Made it! Hello Ms. Austen. :) |
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| We were first greeted by a handsome English gentleman. There were others dressed up in bonnets, dresses, riding boots, lots of ruffles, top hats, the works. :D |
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| Admission was £6 but SO worth it! This place had an extensive museum-like feel, a tea room, a mini tour and history lesson about Jane Austen's life, and of course a cute gift shop. |
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| Would this color look good on me? |
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| Fabulous! |
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| So hawt. Can guys dress like this still? |
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| Tea time with Ms. Austen! |
I spent a good amount of money at the gift shop but that's because I knew this was one of the destinations I wanted to go to the most! Also because Sam and I only had 30 minutes at the center before having to rush back to our tour group. I got an "I Love Mr. Darcy" shirt, of course, and a magnet and a tea cloth that read "Keep Calm and Read Austen." GAH so great. :'D
Another hour drive to Stonehenge. We prepared to take lots of pictures because Sam is an anthro major so this place was her THING!
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| Early humans actually lived near Stonehenge! It was built around 2700 B.C.E. and was believed to be a temple and burial site for the villagers in the area at the height of the Bronze Age. |
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"A bunch of rocks," as most people here call it. But how in the world did these giant stones get up there in such perfect formation that lined up with the movement of the sun? Genius, I tell ya.
I still think it's a bunch of intelligent giants during that time that did all the heavy lifting. King Geoffrey of the medieval ages even wrote a book about this theory! |
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| Audio tour. |
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| England "ROCKS!" Get it? Hehe. :) |
I got back to campus relatively early at around 10pm so I had some time to study before heading off to bed. A fulfilling day indeed.
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